The present invention relates to matchbook holders, and more particularly to a refillable matchbook holder designed to contain a pair of matchbooks in compact relationship.
It is common for commercial establishments such as restaurants and the like to distribute, for the convenience of their customers, books of paper stick matches. Such matchbooks are provided for promotional purposes, and as such, usually contain on one or both sides of the matchbook, advertising for the particular establishment.
The use of single matchbooks for promotional purposes has not been wholly satisfactory in that the recipient customer will often use and discard a matchbook within a period of a day or two, thereby limiting the effective advertising period of the matchbook. It is believed that an inexpensive matchbook holder which can be easily refilled with conventional matchbooks would provide greater promotional benefits in that the user could easily refill the holder with fresh matchbooks over the lifetime of the matchbook holder. A refillable matchbook holder having provision for two (or more) matchbooks would be advantageous to the user, in that an additional book of matches would be available when one of the matchbooks is empty.
Heretofore, refillable matchbook holders have been proposed. The present invention in refillable matchbook holders provides the following advantages over such prior art holders:
The matchbook holder is formed by folding a single strip of elongate flexible material, e.g., durable paper, into segments, providing an inexpensive and easily constructed article of manufacture.
The holder is designed to hold a pair of conventional matchbooks, and provide cover access to each matchbook individually.
The holder provides a maximum of space suitable for displaying advertising messages or the like.
The holder provides access to the match-striking surface of the matchbook, whether such striking surface is located on the front or the back side of the matchbook.
To this end, there is provided a matchbook holder which is formed from a single elongate strip of flexible material folded into at least four cover segments. Two of the cover segments have slots, each adapted to receive the back cover of a conventional matchbook, whereby the matchbook is secured to the holder strip. The other two cover segments are provided with rectangular windows, each positioned to provide access to the match-striking surface of the matchbook, which may be located on the front or back cover of the matchbook. The holder has an open position, allowing access to each of the matchbooks individually, and a closed position, in which the matchbooks are held in a compact form with the matchbooks facing each other and oriented top to bottom.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel refillable matchbook holder adapted to hold a pair of conventional matchbooks.
More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a matchbook holder suitable for use in promotional advertising.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a matchbook holder designed to carry a pair of conventional matchbooks in compact form, and which allows individual access to each of the two matchbooks.